A building entrance protector, i.e. junction box, provides an interface for cables from the central office of the service provider for distribution to subscribers throughout the building served by the junction box. A typical building entrance protector contains a protector field, which provides surge protection to each subscriber's line. The protector field comprises a panel having sockets thereon for plug-in protectors, which are solid state devices printed on wiring board. A typical protector field has a five by five configuration. Due the need to conserve space within a junction box, the twenty-five plug-in protectors are placed abutting each other on the panel.
A typical plug-in protector has five terminals. Three of the five terminals are longer and are connected to the solid state surge protective device within the protector. The remaining two shorter terminals are for connection to the subscriber's line. Different length terminals allow a service technician to unplug the two shorter terminals while keeping the longer terminals in the sockets in order to service or discontinue service of a particular subscriber's line while safely maintaining surge protection on the line.
A typical five-pin plug-in protector has a rectangular box shape measuring 1/2 inch wide, 3/4 inch high and 15/8 inch long. Extending from one end of the protector are five terminals and from the opposite end is an integral tab handle having the width of the protector. At the end of the tab is a small ledge that facilitates the gripping of the tab for removal of the protector.
In a five by five protector field where protectors are placed closely adjacent each other, the tab handle provides the necessary spacing between vertically adjacent protectors for a technician to place his/her thumb and index finger on the tab for removal of a particular protector. However, the tab handle remains closely adjacent to other horizontally adjacent protectors. Due to the limited width of the tab handle and the protector, 1/2 inch, an attempt to remove one protector would likely interfere with or inadvertently remove horizontally adjacent protectors because the width of an average thumb measures 3/4 inch wide, wider than the width of the protector. Although the small ledge at the end of the tab facilitates gripping of the tab, it also disadvantageously facilitates gripping of horizontally adjacent protectors and accidentally removing them. Likelihood of accidental removal of horizontally adjacent protectors increases for technicians having thumbs wider than the average width. Even if technicians are careful in the placement of his/her thumb, he/she would nevertheless waste energy in compressing only on the one tab handle of the protector to be removed, which decreases the efficiency of the technician, who in the course of a day, may remove a large number of protectors.
In view of the safety design of the five-pin plug-in protector, even slight interference with adjacent protectors can lead to either accidental disconnection or intermittent connection for neighboring subscriber lines. Complete removal of a protector is not necessary to disconnect service. Loosening of the two shorter terminals from the protector field panel may not be apparent in an array of closely adjacent protectors. If the affected subscriber line is transferring voice or data through a modem or facsimile, it would affect the quality of the service. In the event that the technician who failed to notice the accidental removal or loosening of adjacent protectors, service to adjacent lines would be disconnected until another technician returns to the site to examine the equipment and re-plug the protectors. This is both time consuming and wasteful of resources.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved handle for a plug-in protector that facilitates and isolates the removal of a single protector without interfering with closely adjacent protectors located in a protector field.